When Joe and Beth asked us to be their photographers, we were pretty excited. We didn't have a lot of time to get to know them before the wedding day, because they are super awesome professional people, and really busy, but it's safe to say we were pleasantly surprised at just how easy we did get along. That always makes it easier to hang out with someone all day- and then the next day, too! Beth is super funky and Joe is really laid back and they are pretty perfect for each other. We travelled to their wedding destination in Manistee. The whole day was held at a really awesome home that was donated to the Michigan Audubon Society and is now a bed and breakfast called Lake Bluff Bird Sanctuary. The home was owned by the Gray family for a long time before being donated and has a really cool history (if you have time, click that link above, and check out the history), part of which was their famous Gray's Phaltez Lake Bluff Arabian horses, and that's not even mentioning that they have redwoods on the property. Yes, the giant ones- and one is at least 100 feet in height. Sorry for the nerd out- I could have stayed a while and just explored!

Here are some highlights from Joe and Beth's wedding day on this beautiful property! Their Day After Session blog post will be next! We ventured even further north to get some pretty epic bride and groom images at Sleeping Bear Dunes- and it was AWESOME. I almost forgot to mention one of my favorite parts of the day! All the homemade food! Beth and her peeps were working hard even the night before the wedding day, and let me tell you- their tapas styled reception foods were the best. I'm already a huge fan of homemade foods- but Beth nailed it. Especially those little raspberry cheesecakey things! Mmmmmmm. 

And then the actual getting dressed part of the day HAD to begin:

I can't remember if the guys were helping or eating at this point...

 

The ceremony overlooked beautiful Lake Michigan.

Who's up for an invigorating round of Hammerschlagen? Some of these yard games people come up with are just too funny!

We would gladly travel to Manistee for some more wedding action again- it's a beautiful area with wonderful people!